In each of the last three offseasons, the Toronto Blue Jays have lost an ace-caliber pitcher. With A.J. Burnett, Roy Halladay and Shaun Marcum no longer around, the starting rotation might seem to be an area of concern, especially in the intensely competitive American League East.

If a sport got TV staying power from getting monstrous big-event ratings, then Olympic TV stars such as short-track speedskating and swimming would have long been TV sports staples. So would soccer, which drew some higher game ratings for the 1994 men's and 1999 women's World Cups than what ABC is averaging for the Boston Celtics-Los Angeles Lakers NBA Finals. So why assume South Africa's Cup, no matter what ESPN/ABC's ratings, will have any effect on soccer's long-term U.S. TV future?

The Boston Red Sox are home watching the postseason on TV, but they still have a stake, of sorts, in who wins the World Series. Since 2000, the Red Sox are the only club to win multiple World Series titles, engineering the greatest comeback in postseason history in the process. But are they the team of the decade?